The Florence Y'alls are a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team based in

Florence, Kentucky Florence is a city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States, part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The population was 31,946 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Northern Kentucky, the eighth-most populous city i ...

. The Y'alls compete in the

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

(FL) as a member of the Midwest Division. The franchise is one of the oldest current running teams of the league. Founded in 1994, the team was known as the Erie Sailors for their first season. For the next four seasons, the team was named the Johnstown Steal, then the Johnstown Johnnies until 2002, as well as the Florence Freedom until 2019. The Y'alls have had the most playoff berths in all FL franchises based in the United States (11), and are third overall amongst active teams in total Frontier Cup championships, behind the Schaumburg Boomers (4) and

Windy City ThunderBolts The Windy City ThunderBolts are a professional baseball team based in Crestwood, Illinois. The ThunderBolts compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the Midwest Division. The team is owned by Franchise Sports LLC, playing its home games ...

(3). The Y'alls played their home games at Foundation Field from 1994 until 2004, after playing for 10 years at that facility. They moved into Thomas More Stadium beginning with the 2004 season. Between the 2001 and 2011 seasons, the Y'alls missed the playoffs 11 seasons in a row. After that, from 2012 to 2021, they made the playoffs 5 times in 10 seasons.

History

The team began in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

, as the Erie Sailors in 1994, before moving to Point Stadium in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

, in 1995, where it was first known as the Johnstown Steal then the Johnstown Johnnies beginning in 1998. The team won two Frontier League championships in their time in Johnstown, one in 1995 as the Steal and one in 2000 as the Johnnies. The team was sold after the 2002 season and moved to Florence, where it became known as the Freedom. In July 2004, shortly after the opening of Champion Window Field, contractors began filing liens against the Freedom, accusing the team of not paying for work done on the stadium. Eventually, 33 liens totaling US$4.7 million were filed. In August,

Fifth Third Bank Fifth Third Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the parent company of Fifth Third Bank (5/3 Bank), which operates 1,100 branches and 2,400 automated teller machines, which are located in 11 states: Oh ...

sued team part-owner Chuck Hildebrant for failing to repay multiple loans taken out to finance the stadium construction. As part of the lawsuit, it was revealed that Hildebrant had used of land that he did not own as collateral for the loans, and that he had given the bank a forged document as proof of ownership. Hildebrant was later the subject of a federal white collar crime investigation and sentenced to prison in October 2005. The team was sold in November 2004 to a new ownership group led by Clint Brown, who was not associated with Hildebrant's ownership group. In 2005, former Chillicothe Paints manager Jamie Keefe was signed as the team's new manager. Keefe led the Freedom to their first winning record (53–42). The team finished tied for second place in the Frontier League's East Division, missing out on the playoffs by a tiebreaker. Three Freedom players hit more than 20

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s in 2005—

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

Mike Galloway (24),

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

Kyle Geswein (24), and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Trevor Hall (23). closer Ted Rowe tied for the league lead in saves with 17. In 2006, the Freedom had a losing record of 38–50, finishing fifth in the Frontier League East Division. In 2007, the Freedom again had a sub-.500 record, going 42–54 for the season. This placed the team third in the East Division. Outfielder Reggie Watson led the league in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(.357) and steals (20), while also winning the

Home Run Derby The Home Run Derby is an annual home run hitting competition in Major League Baseball (MLB) customarily held the day before the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, MLB All-Star Game, which places the contest on a Monday in July. In the context ...

at the 2007 Frontier League All-Star Game, hosted by Florence. Outfielder Ryan Basham earned the Frontier League Rookie of the Year award, hitting .298 with 17 home runs on the season. In 2007, Champion Window Field, home of the Freedom, hosted its first Frontier League All-Star Game, with the Freedom's East Division winning 11–3. The Freedom's Reggie Watson had three

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

and was named the game's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

. The game's attendance of 4,483 set a new attendance record for Florence. In 2008, the team finished with a 47–49 record, missing a playoff spot by four games. For the first time, the Freedom attracted over 100,000 fans to Champion Window Field, with a total of 106,707 fans for the year. In early 2008, the Freedom changed their primary colors from red, white, and blue to black, red, and silver.Freedom Introduce New Logo, Colors and Uniforms for 2008
at oursportscentral.com, URL accessed December 31, 2009
Archived
12/31/09 In 2009, the Freedom opened against the Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti at home on May 20.Sliders Spoil Freedom's Opening Day
at florencefreedom.com, URL accessed December 31, 2009
Archived
12/31/09 Florence opened 2009 with two major changes—

FieldTurf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility i ...

instead of a natural

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

surface and a new coaching staff.Freedom Host First Game on New Turf Sunday
at oursportscentral.com, URL accessed December 31, 2009
Archived
12/31/09 Toby Rumfield became the new field manager, and Freedom alumni Greg Stone, the Freedom's all-time hit leader, as hitting coach and Bill Browett as pitching coach.New Coaching Staff At Florence
at frontierleague.com, URL accessed December 31, 2009. 12/31/09 Clint Brown died in January 2018 after 15 years as team president and owner. He was succeeded by his widow, Kim Brown. Sale of the team to a group of local investors was finalized July 2019. In October 2019, the new owners announced a rebranding of the team for the 2020 season, dropping the name Freedom immediately. The new team name, Florence Y'alls, was announced in January 2020. The team takes its new name from the local Florence Y'all Water Tower. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the

canceled their 2020 season and did not play. The Y'alls successfully returned to the playoffs, capturing their fifth division title. However, they lost the first round to the Schaumburg Boomers 3 games to 1. In March 2022, the Y'alls and

Thomas More University Thomas More University is a private Catholic university in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, United States. It serves about 2,000 full and part-time students. The university was founded in 1921 by the local Benedictine Sisters as Villa Madonna College ...

partnered to rename the home of the Florence Y'alls Thomas More Stadium. As part of the agreement, the stadium will also become the home of the Thomas More Saints baseball team starting in Spring 2023. The team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

Seasons

Current roster

Alumni

Below is a list of Y'alls alumni who have gone on to play MLB-affiliated baseball. The alumni are sorted by peak level of baseball in which they have participated after playing for Florence. In total, 20 Y'alls alumni have signed professional contracts after playing for Florence, with five making the major leagues. As of July 3, 2021:

MLB

AAA

AA

A-Advanced

The following Freedom alumni have advanced as far as

Class A-Advanced High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

: Jason Tuttle (Freedom 2003),Jason Tuttle
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Kevin Rival (2004),Kevin Rival
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Tim Turner (2004),Tim Turner
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Mike Galloway (2005),Mike Galloway
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Heath Castle (2006),Heath Castle
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Johnny Washington (2008)Johnny Washington
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10

A

The following Freedom alumni have advanced as far as Class A: James Morrison (Freedom 2004),James Morrison
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Steven Pickerell (2005, 2009),Steven Pickerell
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Joel Posey (2004–5),Joel Posey
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Conor McGeehan (2006),Conor McGeehan
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Tyler Evans (2007),Tyler Evans
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Neall French (2008)Neall French
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10

Short Season A

The following Freedom alumni have advanced as far as

Class A-Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (crea ...

Rookie-Advanced

The following Freedom alumni have advanced as far as

Rookie Advanced Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

class: J.D. Foust (Freedom 2004)Justin Foust
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10

Rookie

The following Freedom alumni have advanced as far as Rookie Class: Reggie Watson (Freedom 2006–7),Reggie Watson
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
1/1/10 Preston Vancil (Freedom 2010)Preston Vancil
at baseball-reference.com, URL accessed January 1, 2010
Archived
5/8/10 *

Records

Below is a list of

individual records set by Y'alls players as of the end of the 2009 season.League Records
at frontierleague.com, URL accessed January 1, 2009
Archived
1/1/10

Individual game

Runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

– 9 by Garth McKinney on August 11, 2008 (three-way tie) *

Hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

– 6 by Matt Cooksey (2006), Nick Salotti (2007), and Garth McKinney (2008) (seven-way tie) *

No-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

– Preston Vancil on July 26, 2009

Single season

* Games started (pitching) – 22 by Everett Saul in 2009 (three-way tie)

References

External links

*
Freedom page at OurSports Central
{{Defunct Pennsylvania sports teams Frontier League teams Sports clubs and teams in Cincinnati Professional baseball teams in Kentucky Florence, Kentucky Baseball teams established in 2003 2003 establishments in Kentucky